On and on she talked, of models and commissionaires, of going into some of the Paris shops as a potential purchaser to see all the models, remembering the best of them minutely for later reproduction or amplification. Usually the latter, for representatives of other New York establishments use the same tactics. She told of other tricks of the trade while Mimi devoted half of her mind to absorbing the flow of words and the other half to a study of Madame Francine.
This was the first time she had ever had time to gaze upon this magnificent, awe-inspiring creature so close at hand. Mimi, with her usual irreverence for the majestic, before which most others bowed the knee abjectly, could not refrain from the inward comment that Madame Francine, if subjected to a psychological test, would assay about forty percent sheer bluff, thirty percent knowledge of her business, and thirty percent sound common sense. She was tall, slender, simply clad in a close-fitting gown of grey. A string of amber beads and a touch of colour at the wrists accentuated the greyness of the dress and made its simple dignity all